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By Lawrence Agbo
Manchester City intensified their pursuit of the Premier League title charge thanks to a double from Nico O’Reilly, with a crucial 2-1 victory over Newcastle on Saturday
At Etihad Stadium, O’Reilly gave City the lead in the first half and then again after Lewis Hall equalized.
Despite not playing at their best, Pep Guardiola’s team managed to hold on and win, bringing them within two points of leaders Arsenal.
The Gunners will visit Tottenham on Sunday, but City will win the title regardless of the outcome of the north London derby.
After this weekend, they will play Arsenal, and in April, they will face Mikel Arteta’s team. They have won 11 of their past 11 games, which will assure them the seventh championship under Guardiola.
On Friday, Guardiola stated that he “couldn’t care less” about Arsenal’s present stumble, fueling the league’s title battle.
However, City is heating up at the ideal moment, while Arsenal is struggling with only two victories from their last seven league games.
Their record of victories now stands at eight games after a fifth straight victory across all competitions.
This season, City and Newcastle have already met four times, and they will meet a fifth time next month in the FA Cup round of 16.
Newcastle lost in the League Cup semi-finals this season and had failed to win in their 20 prior Premier League trips to the Etihad Stadium.
After persuading the Premier League to reschedule their trip to Manchester from its initial early slot to Saturday evening, Newcastle was exhausted from their 5,000-mile round-trip to Baku for the Champions League play-off first leg against Qarabag on Wednesday.
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With a fast start, City quickly put Newcastle’s level of fatigue to the test.
They scored an impressive first goal in the fourteenth minute as a result of their early pressure.
The Egyptian played a deft pass to O’Reilly, who moved to the edge of the box and put a strong finish past Nick Pope after Erling Haaland flicked the ball into Omar Marmoush.
In Newcastle’s 6-1 defeat of Qarabag, Anthony Gordon scored four goals. The England forward then threatened to equalize right away with a blistering shot that Gianluigi Donnarumma palmed away.
Throughout the game, City’s defense was far too exposed, and in the 22nd minute, they were taken by surprise.
They made a mess of clearing a corner, and Hall pounced with a shot from the area’s edge that passed the wrong-footed Donnarumma after taking a strong deflection from City defender Rayan Ait-Nouri.
Five minutes later, Guardiola’s team struck back, taking the lead once more.
Haaland lofted a fantastic ball into the Newcastle area after being picked out by Antoine Semenyo, and O’Reilly timed his move flawlessly to hammer a downward header past Pope from close range.
However, following the break, Hall came dangerously near to a second equalizer, looping just wide with a bold attempt that earned Donnarumma’s appreciative thumbs up.
The inability of City to eliminate Newcastle infuriated Guardiola, who stormed the touchline and yelled at his team to “keep the ball better.”
Semenyo’s calm shot at Pope from a good position caused the City manager’s blood pressure to rise once more, but City managed to survive the tense finish to maintain pressure on Arsenal.
